Fragile Nights
by Constellations101
Summary: Naruto doesn't know how to help Sasuke but he can't just sit around and watch Sasuke suffer. AU
1. Prologue

**_Fragile Nights_**

**_I know its short but it is the prologue. So give it a try._**

**__****The reason the sentences are chopped and hectic is because I'm trying to portray Itachi's mind at the time. **

**__****Enjoy:)**

It was midnight.

I thought my nightmare had ended.

Little did I know...

The police called and told me that they had found my little brother. I was ecstatic. At first, I thought that this was some sort of crude prank. They assured me it wasn't. They informed me of the procedures I would have to go through once I arrived at the police station. I barely listened to a word they said. But I pretended to listen. I'm good at that. I asked for specific details concerning my little brother. They wouldn't tell me the details over the phone. They told me that I should see him for myself.

I wish they had prepared me.

He was lost in his own world. His eyes were glazed over. The police were interrogating him in a gentle tone. He never answered. His face is disfigured with cuts and bruises while the left side of his face is burnt. I couldn't see the state the rest of his body was in. I was glad. I thought that this was some horrible mistake. This couldn't be my brother. My brother had been lively and full of energy. He could light up an entire room with his smile and the sound of his laughter resonating could ease the burdens of the strongest of men. He was the epitome of hope. This was a broken shell. He couldn't be my little brother. But he was.

He looked exactly like her.

The police asked me to try to get a response from him. I crouched down in front of him. He was tiny. He wouldn't look at me. I asked if he remembered who I was. He didn't answer. I asked him many things after that. I don't remember what I asked but it didn't matter. He never answered. I wish he had. After that, I asked him one last question. I asked him if he remembered his mother. He answered. I wish he hadn't.

''What is a mother?''

After that I stepped back and let the police finish with the interrogation session with the help of child services. I felt detached from my body. I watched everything that was happening. But it was like I wasn't there. I couldn't hear anything. I couln't feel anything. But I could see. I wish I couldn't. They told me they were unable to determine the specifics of the damage his mind had taken. They told me that he would have to go to a mental institution. They told me some other things. I didn't register the rest. There was only one thought swirling in my head. The thought filled me with guilt and sorrow. A feeling of helplessness had taken toll of my body.

I had failed him.

They got the car ready as they prepared to take him away. He still hadn't looked at me. I wish he would. His eyes were frantically darting around, taking in the surroundings. They darted from person to person. He wouldn't look at me. When they got ready to take him, he started screaming. He didn't want them to touch him. I didn't do anything. They got an injection ready so that they could sedate him. I let them. Before he fell unconscious, he shed a tear. And he looked at me. I wish he hadn't. I saw the fear and agony in his eyes. They strapped him in the car and drove away.

I was left stranded.

Little did I know...

My nightmare had just begun.

3...2...1...I wish it was midnight.

* * *

**The reason the sentences are chopped and hectic is because I'm trying to portray Itachi's mind at the time. Obviously, if you just found your brother in such a condition, you wouldn't exactly be sane. **

**Tell me what you think. Did I do a decent job in portraying Itachi's mind at the time or do you think it was too hectic and out of place.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Fragile Nights**

**I know I havn't updated in ages. Sorry about that. I've just been busy with uni and other stuff. Well here is the next chapter to silent nights. Hope you enjoy.**

**Flashbacks are italicized**

**Diclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

_I hate the smell. The smell that seems to be everywhere I go._

_Blood._

_I try not to think of why the room smells so strongly of blood. However, the silence and the darkness brings those painful memories...No I will not allow my mind to wander down that road. Master does not like it when my mind thinks like that. Master says that I do things that hurt him. I can't hurt master. He is the only one that loves me. After all, if he didn't love me then he wouldn't feed me._

_Right?_

_I wonder when master will feed me. I'm very hungry. It's been a while since I ate. My stomach growls painfully. I clutch my stomach, hoping, futilely, that this action will soothe the pain. I don't remember if I am talking about the pain in my stomach or...the pain in my heart._

_I want this constant nightmare to end. I want those people who soothe me in my dreams to help me in reality. I think she calls it a...family. She told me that she is someone special to me. She says she is my mother. Whatever that means. I suddenly realize what I'm thinking about. I take the knife in my pocket and slash my wrists. I can't think like that. Otherwise Master will be hurt. And I don't want master to be hurt. He loves me. And I love him. He is my only family. He told me that._

_I don't know how long I have been in this cell. It could have been ten minutes or three hours or a week and I would never realize...Someone is opening the door to my cell. _

_Master is here. _

_I give him my full attention. "Number 3241, follow me." He leads the way and I follow him with no display of rebelliousness; that means I trust him. Master told me that. _

_He takes me through dank corridors that stink of grit, blood, and something I can't remember. My heart tells me its loneliness. But master told me not to trust my heart. And I trust master._

_"__Number 3241, I know you are hungry." His penetrating golden eyes seem to be mocking me. I clamp down at that thought. Master would never intentionally hurt me. _

_"__If you want to eat then I need some form of payment. Take the gun." He hands me the gun. My heart starts pounding wildly. I start sweating and I feel nauseous. I know what's coming. _

_"__No, No, No, please anything but this master." I beg him._

_"__Take the gun."_

_I try to make a break for it but master grabs my wrist before I even reach the door. He grabs my face painfully. It hurts. "Take the gun and kill the target if you want food. If you want me to continue loving you then take the gun and don't make me repeat myself."_

_I swallow the lump forming in my throat. I look at the ground dejectedly. _

_I take the gun in trembling hands. I lock eyes with the target. It's an old man this time.I wonder if he has a family. That person in my dreams told me that everyone has a family. His eyes gaze at me with warmth; silently telling me that he is not angry. That everything will be okay._

_Even the targets lie..._

_I break eye contact and raise the gun. _

_I pull the trigger._

* * *

"You have to eat if you want to get better." Naruto had spent the better part of the morning trying to get Sasuke to eat.

Sasuke just continued to stare at Naruto apathetically. Sasuke glanced at the food . He was hungry but he couldn't eat. He wandered if Naruto would make him pay for the food afterwards. His stomach churned at the thought. He didn't want to kill anyone just to attain food. He would rather die himself. Now that master was no longer with him, he had no reason to live.

"I want master."

"You don't have a master." Naruto repeated for the umpteenth time. His patience was deteriorating rapidly.

"Why?" Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise. Sasuke hadn't asked this before.

"No one is a master to anyone. You are not a slave."

Sasuke stared at him. Naruto just looked on nervously. He didn't like that blank stare. It held no signs of vitality. The silence stretched between them and Naruto did nothing to penetrate it no matter how awkward it was.

"Are you my new master?" Naruto looked at him in surprise. Sasuke looked serious. And Naruto couldn't help his stomach clenching painfully.

"No, I'm not your master."

"Then get out. You have no right to tell me what to do. Only master does."

"Why?" Naruto questioned.

"Because Master loves me."

"I love you too, Sasuke."

"Then where were you when I needed you. Where were you...Only master has been there for me. People are there for each other if love exists between them. Therefore, only master loves me."

Naruto felt like crying. How could this have happened?

"Sasuke..."

"Stop calling me Sasuke. It's not my name."

"Then what is your name?" Naruto decided to humour Sasuke.

"Number 3214."

Naruto stared at him in slight surprise. Sadness clouded his eyes and his fists trembled in anger. "Then tell me...Number 3214, who is Sasuke."

"I don't know. How am I supposed to know ." He screamed before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Sasuke...died a long time ago. You can't save him. He is dead."

Silence encased them. Naruto got up and left the room. Once he was outside the room, he punched the wall numerous times to relieve the pent up emotions he experienced upon Sasuke's appearance. His eyes were glazed with tears that he refused to let fall.

The Uchihas had kindly adopted him after the death of his parents. He had grown up with Sasuke and saw him as a brother. When Sasuke was kidnapped he had watched the entire family go into turmoil. Sasuke's mother had slowly disappeared in the clutches of depression. She had lost her life to it. Fugaku, saddened by his wife's death and his youngest son's disappearance, had absorbed himself entirely in his work before loosing his life in a car crash three years later. Itachi never gave up hope in finding Sasuke alive. He went to university and became a detective so that he could find his brother. However, Naruto had been too young to understand the severity of the situation. He had slowly forgotten about Sasuke as the years went by. However, he hadn't entirely forgotten.

Sasuke had been the kid he used to turn to in his dreams when the bullying became too much for him to handle. Sasuke was the strong one in his dreams. But now he had to face reality. He had to be the strong one.

He returned to Sasuke's room. He crouched down on the floor so that he could continue his futile attempts in getting Sasuke to eat. Sasuke refused to sleep on the bed for reasons unknown. However, Sasuke had different ideas. He took the bowl from Naruto's hand and threw the food at the wall across him. He used Naruto's temporary distraction to his advantage and ran out the room.

Naruto glanced at the shattered remnants of the bowl. Unfixable. Just like the situation, at hand, it seemed. Naruto ran out the door to seek the youngest Uchiha.

He saw him running across the lawn. Naruto went after him and tackled him to the ground. Sasuke started to convulse involuntarily. His breathing became irregular. His eyes glazed over as though he was looking into the past.

_His hands...His hands are everywhere. I can feel them. Please stop. His hands...His hands...It hurts...I can't stop._

Naruto got up from Sasuke. "Hey, its okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Naruto put his hands in front of him. He stared at the small form sadly. He knew what had caused Sasuke to react wildly but he hoped he was wrong. He squeezed his eyes. He didn't know if he was strong enough to look after Sasuke.

When Naruto opened his eyes again, he realized that Sasuke had fainted. He picked Sasuke up and put him back in his room. He watched the silent form for a few minutes from the doorway. Could he be strong enough for Sasuke?

He left the room in search of Itachi. He found Itachi sitting on the porch.

"Doing drugs isn't going to help Sasuke!" Naruto yelled angrily at Itachi.

Itachi ignored him.

"Itachi, if you continue doing drugs then you've basically failed him as a brother."

"I've already failed him." Itachi wheezed out easily.

"No, you haven't. You can still help him. Where is the man that wasted his whole life in search for his younger brother so that he could help him get a normal life? A life that he deserves."

"That man died."

"Funnily, Sasuke said the same thing about himself. Looks like the entire Uchiha family has died out."

Itachi didn't answer.

Naruto grabbed Itachi from the front of his shirt and shook him. "Stop ignoring me. Don't you care about Sasuke." His gaze met Itachi's apathetic stare; he looked like someone who had given up on life. That and the glazed over eyes and the slightly flushed skin caused Naruto's anger to increase.

He laughed humourlessly. "Who am I kidding? Even if you stopped with your newly acquired druggie habits, you'd still be drugged on your own apathy."

Naruto punched Itachi in the face.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 2

**_Fragile Nights_**

**_Chapter 2_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._**

**_I know two chapters in one week. What a miracle. Enjoy and don't forget to review._**

_They are all looking at me with disdain and hatred. They are looking at me like I'm a monster. I cover my ears even though they don't say anything. They don't need to. They hate me. Their eyes are glaring at me everywhere I turn. They think I'm the cause of their misery. They think I am the monster._

_I don't want to hurt them. I want them to like me. I want to laugh with them. I want to be with them. I want cry with them. I want to play with them. I want to share their comfort. _

_Why am I so different? Everywhere I go, I hurt people. Is it because of him? No, it can't be because of him. He always tries to protect me from their hurtful glares. But if he is always there for me like they are for each other then why do I feel so lonely and lost? Why do I feel like I am the monster?_

_He comes into my cell. The hurtful glares immediately turn into apathetic stares. But that just seems to hurt more. He puts his arm on my shoulder and embraces me before leading me away from them. Mater always protects me from them. Of course, I have to pay him for his kindness.,_

_He gives me the knife and without hesitation I slice at the boy in front of me. He is about my age. I can't breathe. His pleading eyes, as his soul departed from his body, will forever be etched into my mind. His blood is pooling around me. It's on my hands and...everywhere. Master embraces me and whispers soothing words in my ears. "Hush, its okay. You did good. He deserved it. Remember he hurt you. I only want you to do what is best for yourself."_

_It hurts so much. I don't know why, though. I was not the one physically wounded._

_I am silently screaming but there is no one that can hear my silent cries. _

_Maybe I am the monster._

* * *

"I want my master. I want him back." Sasuke stood holding a vase in his hand. "If you don't take me to my master, I will throw this vase at you. And don't you dare take a step towards me."

"Sasuke, you need to calm down. Let's talk about this like civil people." Naruto had his hands held out in front of him as he tried to talk sense into the other.

"I don't want to talk until you take me to my master."

"Why do you want to go back to your master?"

"Because I love him and he can protect me."

"How, Sasuke, How exactly does that work when all he ever did was hurt you."

Naruto's words momentarily distracted Sasuke and Naruto used this opportunity to leap across the room and seize the vase from Sasuke before grabbing him in a head-lock. Sasuke tried to shake Naruto off but being emancipated and much smaller that Naruto did nothing to ease Naruto's grip.

"Stop squirming." Naruto yelled.

"No, not until you take me to my master. I want my master now." Sasuke screamed and bit Naruto's hand.

Naruto let go of his grip due to the intense pain. He Lifted Sasuke from the floor and shook him vigorously.

"You bastard. He is dead. Your oh-so-precious master is dead."

Sasuke stared at Naruto with horror. Anguish and grief were easily distinguishable in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Naruto let go of Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He went to his bed and lay down on his back.

"Sasuke...?" Naruto asked tentatively. "Hey, its gonna be okay. He can't hurt you anymore."

Sasuke still said nothing. He directed his blank stare towards Naruto. Naruto was surprised to see how blank and hollow his eyes looks. It was as though Sasuke had lost his reason for living. Naruto supposed he had due to the codependency between him and his master.

"Hey, remember when we were little and we promised to always be friends and I said I would always protect you. And then you got mad..."

_Two little boys were watching the stars together._

_"__Naruto, will we always be friends." Sasuke asked tentatively in his squeaky voice. He was twisting the hem of his shirt in knots while apprehensively awaiting his friend's answer._

_"__Yes, Sasuke, I promise we will always be friends. I will always protect you Sasuke."_

_"__Hey I'm not a baby. I don't need anyone to protect me. I'm going to be like my daddy and Itachi and then I will be the strongest person in the world and no one in the world will be able to hurt me." Sasuke said proudly with his chest puffed out in a childish display at masculinity._

_Naruto laughed. "No matter how big and strong you get, Sasuke, I will make it my duty to protect you like a big brother weather you want me to or not. Dattebayo!" Naruto grinned goofily at Sasuke._

_They intertwined their middle and index fingers together_

"Remeber, Sasuke, remember? We were best friends." He thought he was making progress until he realized that Sasuke's blank gaze wasn't directed at him. Sasuke was staring through him.

Naruto wanted to cry.

His hands were shaking because he was trying to keep the tears away. "I always thought you were like a lioness. I didn't think you were like a male lion because they are so lazy. But when a lioness hunts, she locks her gaze on a prey to her liking. She goes directly after that one. She does not care if there are easier targets in the herd to prey on. She chose the one she wanted and she will do anything to get that one. That motivation and dedication reminds me of you. You always strived to achieve your goals and didn't stop until you got what you wanted."

Sasuke didn't reply.

_"__Sasuke, where did your desire to surpass Itachi and make your father proud go? Where did your will to live go."_

Naruto left the room. He needed fresh air so he decided to take a walk in the park. He did not know for how long he walked or for how long he sat on a secluded bench under a Sakura tree. He just lost himself in the noise emitted from the children. The sound of innocence that echoes in adulthood but is never heard.

"Naruto, how you doing man?"

"Huh, oh hi." He hadn't noticed Kiba until he was sitting beside him. They were silent for a while which was strange considering the two boys were loud-mouthed and hyper by nature.

"I heard about Sasuke. You know you don't have to help him. You can move on with your life." Kiba gave Naruto a pat on the back."

Naruto gave him a big smile.

It hurt.

"Later, man, Hinata will throw a fit if I'm late again. If you need to talk, call me."

Naruto stared after Kiba. Everyone had a life and a need to move forward. He couldn't move anywhere without Sasuke. He felt stuck in the throes of time and for the first time he wished he had never known the Uchihas.

He distantly heard a baby laugh.

He felt separated from his body. It felt like he was watching the world through the eyes of the dead. He wanted to experience life again. He wanted to be part of the happiness and despair and love and unity that the world had to offer. He wanted to feel like he was part of something big. Like he was part of a family.

But he felt empty. Nobody was home.

When Naruto returned to Sasuke's room, it was with the intention of making him sleep.

"Mater said that he would always be there for me. He said he would protect me." There was no emotion in Sasuke's voice.

"I can protect you Sasuke." Naruto said earnestly.

"You already failed, Naruto. You were supposed to be the big brother. But you failed."

Itachi was standing in the door way, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He stared at the shadows getting ready for bed in his brother's room.

Like always, he was the one left on the outside.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 3

**_Fragile Nights_**

**_Chapter 3_**

**_Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto_**

_"Sasuke, we will always be brothers forever." A young boy was sitting on the top bunk of the bed with a petite black-haired boy. The dingy room was engulfed in darkness. "I will always protect you and be the shoulder you can cry on."_

_"Forever and always?"_

_"Yes, Sasuke." The other boy gently touched Sasuke's hand in reassurance._

_It was dark._

_Sasuke wished he had known then..._

_"Don't let him destroy you. Don't let him break you. Promise me ,Sasuke, that you will remain this innocent boy for as long as it takes for your family to rescue you." The other boy said._

_"I know. Don't worry I won't. I promise. Mother and Itachi and father must be so worried." The two boys started laughing softly. "Why are we laughing?"_

_"I don't know but it sure feels great."_

_It was dark._

_The two boys fell asleep together in the darkness with the lingering words of their promise._

_Sasuke wished he had known then..._

_"I thought we were best friends and that you would always protect me. Forever and always."_

_The other boy laughed cruelly; his eyes dancing with mirth and mockery. "Like I would be the best friend of a whore. Sasuke, don't get your hopes up, you will never mount to anything great. But at least you will make a great whore." The boy walked away._

_Sasuke watched his form disappearing into the night. He didn't move. He just stared with blank eyes. His body was shaking due to the blistering wind. But Sasuke never noticed. He just stared at the spot where his once best friend had just stood._

_Somewhere, the clock struck midnight._

_Suddenly, Sasuke's legs gave out and he fell to the snow-covered ground. He fisted the snow in his hands in an attempt to keep the sobs at bay. But, eventually, he lost the battle and the tears started streaming down his face. His body wracked with his sobs. _

_Later, in the morning, his tormentor found him passed out in the snow. His tormentor just smirked at the realization that Sasuke had cried himself into oblivion. Finally, the boy was broken._

_In his unconscious state of mind, Sasuke vaguely remembered that..._

_Promises made in the darkness will eventually be forgotten._

_Just like the innocence of youth._

* * *

Naruto entered Sasuke's room with a man Sasuke vaguely remembered.

"Uhh...Sasuke, this is your therapist. His name is Hatake Kakashi." Naruto fidgeted with his cellphone before he turned to leave. He stopped by the door momentarily. "Play nice, okay." He turned around and gave Sasuke a big smile before leaving the room.

Sasuke stared after Naruto's retreating back; confusion evident in his eyes.

"Hello, what is your name?" Kakashi asked.

"Shouldn't you already know. Talk about a therapist who has his own mental problems."

Kakashi chuckled. "Its just a formality. I couldn't careless about you or your mental problems." Kakashi brought out an orange book and started reading.

After about twenty minutes, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. "Are you paid to just sit there and read."

"No, I'm paid to help people."

"And how do you intend to accomplish that. You're just sitting there and reading."

"You mistook me. I'm paid to help people but...What they don't know won't hurt them."

"You mean, Itachi will be wasting his money for nothing."

"If that is how you want to see it."

"What do you see it as then?"

"I see it as an oppertunity for people to something good for others. To invest in something they truly care about."

Sasuke just stared at him as if he was crazy.

Though, if you really are that desperate, I could ask some questions. What do you think of your brother, Itachi." Kakashi noted from his peripheral vision that Sasuke tensed at Itachi's name.

"We may be related by blood but...he is worth nothing to me." Sasuke clenched the bed sheets in obvious anger.

"Why? He spent years searching for you and never gave up on finding you. He was very optimistic and passionate in almost everything he did" Kakashi was watching Sasuke intently while appearing to be engrossed in his 'Icha Icha Paradise' book.

"I...I...I...Really? That isn't the impression I got from him." Sasuke stared at the walls angrily.

"What was the impression you got from him?"

"I see myself in him. I see the same broken person that I am when I look at him. And it makes me so angry. He had so much potential and he could have mounted to anything in the world but then he just...snapped. He let the darkness consume him. He let them win. And it makes me so angry." Sasuke's voice was barely above a whisper and he was trembling.

"Why does that make you angry?" Kakashi questioned.

Sasuke snapped his charcoal black eyes on him as though he had momentarily forgotten about Kakashi's presence. He glared at him. "Get out."

"Mr. Hatake, thank you for your services. We will see you next week." Itachi dismissed Kakashi.

After Kakashi had taken his leave, Itachi sat on the wooden chair by Sasuke's bed.

"How are you feeling, Otouto?"

Sasuke just glared at the wall.

"Sasuke, please look at me."

Sasuke glanced at Itachi and what he saw made him angry. He felt like he was looking in a mirror. He felt pathetic and broken and weak.

"Sasuke, can't we try this brother thing again, please." Itachi asked desperately.

At Itachi's words, Sasuke saw red. He grabbed the vase on his bedside table and threw it at the floor by Itachi's feet. The glass shattered to pieces. "I hope that's a good enough answer for you. Now get out."

Itachi opened his mouth as though he was going to say something but then he closed it. Itachi placed an envelope on his bedside table and left silently.

Sasuke saw Itachi's expression and he had seen the hurt momentarily reflected in his eyes. But he didn't feel sad or hurt or angry.

_I feel so empty._

He hated seeing those eyes engulfed in pain. He hated it when those shoulders slumped as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He hated how those feet dragged across the floor as though he had given up on the world. He hated seeing that picture of a once proud, strong, and optimistic person morph into a broken, hunched figure. But most of all, he hated seeing himself.

_And I just feel empty._

He directed his attention to the manila envelope. He tentatively opened it and examined its contents.

_Sasuke,_

_I can't deal with this anymore. I'm leaving and I'm so sorry. I hope you will find it in yourself to forgive me someday. Though, I understand if you don't forgive me. _

_Naruto_

The paper was decorated with tear stains. It was evident to Sasuke that Naruto had been crying when he wrote this.

Sasuke ran out of the house and into his garden. The garden was silent and dark. He couldn'e see anyone. He hoped he could glimpse Naruto one more time before he left.

_Somewhere, the clock struck midnight._

_"_I hate you. I thought you would always be with me. I thought you would protect me. But you left. Just like the rest of them. You're just like the rest of them! Sasuke screamed into the night. His voice reverberated through the darkness. But no one answered. He was alone.

Sasuke broke down into uncontrollable sobs. He put his hands over his ears and screamed into the silent night continuously. Hoping that someone somewhere would hear him and help him fix the broken pieces.

_The broken pieces of the once beautiful and lively mirror._

When he stopped screaming, all he heard was the whispers of the wind rustling the charred leaves of the knobbly trees.


End file.
